The Windows Mail app is built for connected devices like mobile phones and tablets, and allows full sync across all your devices. If you move a message into an email folder from your tablet, your phone and computer will also show that same change. Where Windows 7 required you to install your own email program to get email, Windows 8 now lets you do so right out of the box. And even if your email provider does not support synchronization like this,…

It’s time to have a frank discussion busting the myths of Windows 8. If you receive nothing else from this, I want you to understand that Windows 8 does not take anything away from you. Anyone claiming otherwise is either trying to spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt), quite likely for profit, or is simply unaware of the truth.

Pinned Sites, first introduced in Windows 7 with Internet Explorer 9, could be described as super-favorites. Windows 8 brought us the ability to pin sites to our Start screen, and this functionality is being enhanced in Windows 8.1.

On Windows tablets, the right-click menu is pre-set to appear on the left of your pointer or finger, which is opposite of the behavior on a desktop PC. For most of us, this prevents our hands from obscuring the menu.

Almost any software purchased these days includes a product key: a unique code that activate the software. In most cases, this key is what you truly purchase: it confirms your licensed right to use the program. But how do you keep track of all those keys?

After Microsoft purchased GIANT Company Software, Inc. in 2004 (ahem, who’s giant now?), I decided I needed to test out* the Microsoft Antispyware program by giving it a chance to remove some junk, namely Bonzi Buddy. Bonzi Buddy is actually a close relative to the infamous Clippy** and Rover in Windows XP.

A crash is often the result of a software error, either faulty programming or the work of malware, malicious software like a virus. While these can sometimes be overcome, when your hard drive itself malfunctions, you have a physical failure on your hands that can be devastating. Here’s how I recovered thanks to SkyDrive.

For a while now, I’ve been waiting to rename my Microsoft Account. The @live.com email address was feeling dated and I wanted my account to use the new @outlook.com name. I delayed, expecting this to require erasing my Windows Phone, but this is not actually the case. Sort of.

With limited storage capacity, it’s not surprising that RT tablets do not sync your cloud-stored files for offline access. Take my SkyDrive for example, which holds over 60 GB of my stuff. While Windows RT does provide a SkyDrive app for access, there are times when it would be useful to open this cloud storage as if it was a local folder or drive.

Today it occurred to me that the pin action has really taken off at Microsoft across all products and divisions. Just like the physical version, pins are used to personalize and post your stuff in-place, wherever you want to place it. Here’s just a few places you can find this metaphor in Windows, and how to use it effectively.

It’s once again Severe Storm Season, and this year I’ve made several changes that will directly or indirectly require me to adjust the weather apps, software, and services I use to stay alive, safe, and at all times chasing storms (rather than being chased). Here’s the apps and sites I use the most.

Whether you’re trying to preserve your battery, your bandwidth, or your bottom line, there are a number of reasons you might want to limit the data usage of your PC. Here’s how to watch or curb your data usage in Windows 8 for any wifi network.

I’ve shown you how to make SkyDrive the storage location for your Windows libraries, as well as sync your desktop and other shell folders to SkyDrive and your other PCs. But what if you have files that need to stay on another drive, or that can’t be moved to the SkyDrive folder?

If you’ve been following me here or on twitter, you know I’m a huge proponent of SkyDrive, the online storage space service from Microsoft. SkyDrive makes sharing files a breeze – whether it privately among your private personal computers and devices, discreetly with individuals and colleagues, or publically with the world. SkyDrive is a great addition to (or starting point for) backing up your personal files and documents, safely off-site and yes, in the cloud.

It’s been quite some time since I’ve published an update on my fitness project. This has been for few factors beyond my own pessimism. In short, I haven’t been making the types of progress I expected, and it’s been really bringing me down. I’m not doing terrible, but I feel like I’m spinning my wheels, stuck doing the motions while only making slight, if any, gains or strength increases. Although I have added some mass, my bodyfat has crept up as…

I’ve written before about the non-intuitive nature of visual effects in recent versions of Windows, where offloading the desktop rendering duties to the graphics card can result in considerable performance improvements. While this is true for nearly any modern PC, including those with ‘integrated’ graphics cards, there are still steps one may take to enhance performance.

Sorry Verizon, there’s no easy way to say this. For a communications company, you really suck at enabling your customers to communicate with their world. In a day where real-time collaboration is a necessity, consumers expect a certain level of functionality. This includes the ability to communicate in text conversations with a group of colleagues.

The Nokia Drive app, previously exclusive to Nokia’s Lumia line of phones, is now available as a Beta to all Windows Phone 8 devices. As a HTC 8X user, which does not include a free navigation app, I was excited to test such a highly rated app.

I do not suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder, but I do display some OCD tendencies. One of these is habitually emptying the Recycle Bin on my desktop — I just cannot stand to see those virtual papers in there (if only I took out the trash at home with as much fervor).

This Christmas, consider tech services gifts for your non tech friends and family. Because they provide access to services and content year-round, they’re sure to be gifts that keep on giving. You don’t need to be a geek to appreciate these fine services that make great gifts for anyone.

The OneNote radial menu provides finger-friendly access to common commands. When you’re familiar with the layout of the menu, you can use it without opening it first: just swipe in the direction of the command you want to select.

Pinning submenu commands to the toolbar not only provides more direct access, but also serves as a status indicator to a state that may otherwise be hidden. For example, now I can tell at a glance the status of my Excel workbook calculations, and change it if necessary before I make an edit that would trigger a lengthy calculation.

Gmail’s use of labels instead of folders typically means that using the service with most mail clients can be tricky. If you know how Gmail archives instead of deletes messages though, you can more easily triage and archive mail from Windows 8.

Your Start screen tiles can link deeper into your apps, providing a one-touch shortcut to the content you care about most. Whether it’s people, email, news, or content from a variety of other apps, you can deep pin it on your Start screen easily.

Did you know that you can add your own commands to the toolbar at the top of Microsoft Office programs? This also applies to several apps in Windows 7, and has even been expanded to the File Explorer in Windows 8!

Quite a few years ago now, I saw a really awesome wallpaper created by a Mac user. Designed in a blueprint pattern, it labeled all the standard interface elements on the screen, even the Mighty Blue Apple.

Have you ever wondered why different folders have different layouts in Windows, or how to apply your preferred layout to all folders? Windows actually allows you to push a folder view down to all subfolders using Folder Types (templates), but it’s not very discoverable.

Enable deep searching inside files in all folders, even if the search system hasn’t indexed the location. Searches in these places might take longer because they haven’t been scanned ahead of time, but this will provide consistent search experience everywhere.